Kingsmoor Park, Wrexham Industrial Esate the proposed site for a new energy centre (Image: Stacey Oliver)

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Public consultation has been launched over plans to build a £300m gas power plant.

If given the go ahead, the plant proposed for Wrexham Industrial Estate could create 800 construction jobs and 30 full time posts.

The company behind the scheme, Wrexham Power Limited, said it could generate up to 299MW electricity – enough to power up to 400,000 homes in the area.

Initially, there was major opposition to the proposals with fears it could scar the countryside with huge pylons.

However opposition has reduced since March after company bosses said they would connect to the electricity grid via three kilometres of underground pipes to the east and south of the industrial estate, rather than overhead cables.

Following a non-statutory consultation, they said they had refined the proposals for a smaller CCGT power station – the key advantage being it no longer needs a new 400kV pylon connection to National Grid's Legacy Substation.

Daniel Chapman, Director of Wrexham Power Energy Limited, said: “We have undertaken extensive design and environmental studies since introducing our plans and we have listened to the community's views.

“We want to carry on those discussions through our statutory consultation and look forward to receiving feedback from the community before submitting our application.”

Wrexham Residents Against Power member Kevin Braithwaite said: “There were objections to the pylons, but a lot of objectors have now been satisfied.

“There are a handful of objectors, including myself, who don’t want the power station built near to them as it will be the largest thing on the industrial estate with 50 meter stacks.

“But to be honest, it now seems to be futile to battle against a power scheme that Wrexham County Borough Council may be happy to go ahead.”

Company chiefs also say the energy centre could provide power for businesses on the industrial estate.

It would be built in Kingmoor Park South on the former Owens Corning Fibreglass factory site, opposite the Kellogg's cereal factory near St Paul’s Primary School.

Ultimately, the final decision whether the project receives the green light would be taken by the government.

The public is invited to attend the following locations between 3pm and 8pm: